Denny Hamlin says there’s nothing more gratifying to him than winning and then figuring out how to antagonize the crowd
Denny Hamlin continues to embrace the villain persona in the NASCAR world. In a pre-race interview at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said he looks forward to winning races to jibe with the fans and annoy them.
After winning at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago, Hamlin got out of his car and waved a flag with the phrase, '11 Against The World'. Last week, the 44-year-old took a jab at Kyle Larson in a post-race interview for causing a late caution, which helped him take the lead off the pit road for the win.
Hamlin, who was on a two-race win streak before finishing second to Larson at Bristol, admitted to the FOX broadcasting crew that his antics are intentional. The #11 Toyota Camry driver finds satisfaction in winning and antagonizing the crowd, saying:
"There's nothing more gratifying to me than winning and then figuring out how I'm going to antagonize this crowd." [1:28]
"That's what my goal is for the day, so we'll see how it goes," he added.
Denny Hamlin entered the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway as a 56-time Cup race winner, making him the second-winningest active driver behind Kyle Busch (63).
The long-time JGR driver has won four times at the World's Fastest Half-Mile. Perhaps his most memorable Bristol win was the night race in 2023. After securing a spot in the Round of 12, he taunted the crowd and said, "I beat your favorite driver... all of them".
Had Hamlin won at Bristol, he would have become the second driver to win three consecutive races in the Next-Gen car era (2022-present). The first driver to do so was teammate Christopher Bell, who won at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas, and Phoenix this season.
"There's two people I really love right now": Denny Hamlin shouted out Kyle Larson after Darlington win
Denny Hamlin didn't hold back on his post-race interview after winning the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Hamlin said he loved Kyle Larson, which was likely a jab at the Hendrick Motorsports ace's crash.
To recall, Larson was towed back to the garage as early as lap four after crashing on his own down the backstretch. He returned to the track on lap 165 to try and maximize points, but later made contact with Bubba Wallace on lap 290, hitting the wall and bringing out the yellow flag.
With a strong pit stop under caution, Denny Hamlin overtook Ryan Blaney for the lead on pit road. The #11 Toyota pilot benefited from Larson's mishaps for his first back-to-back win since 2012 when he won at Bristol and Atlanta.
Speaking about the #11 team and Kyle Larson, Hamlin said (via FOX):
"There’s two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson. Had a little assist there, so thank you. The pit crew just did an amazing job. They won it last week [at Martinsville]. They won it this week. It’s all about them.”
While Denny Hamlin scored a back-to-back, Kyle Larson settled with his first DNF of the year. At Bristol, it was Larson who had the last laugh.